diff --git a/releng.control/commonVariations.shsource b/releng.control/commonVariations.shsource
index d1e5e61fd783c7f098e3f6434fa86b5509e2cda7..d272555afb953bc92056c03bd924d21b51e09b73 100644
--- a/releng.control/commonVariations.shsource
+++ b/releng.control/commonVariations.shsource
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ export BUILD_CVS_ROOT=${BUILD_CVS_ROOT:+/cvsroot/webtools}
 
 # for  builds on local machines, SKIPUSERS should be 'true' to avoid
 # notifying users about those builds on your local machine
-export SKIPUSERS=${:+false}
+export SKIPUSERS=${SKIPUSERS:+false}
 
 export DOWNLOAD_ROOT=${DOWNLOAD_ROOT:+/home/data/httpd/download.eclipse.org}